With long-term breastfed children need to supplement the diet with vitamin D

2016-02-26

News

385 views

More and more young mothers fed their babies up to 1 year and even much longer Thanks to the promotion of health benefits of breast milk. But in this case, the child may lack vitamin D, which is found in milk.

WHO experts believe that the duration of breast-feeding the baby should be at least 6 months. If the mother is not breastfeeding is stopped, according to WHO recommendations, it is permissible to continue to feed the baby breast milk up to 2 years or even longer — even if the baby has started eating regular food.

Why children needs in vitamin D?

However, as Canadian researchers argue in this case it is important that the child receives extra vitamin D supplements. As it turned out, even though breast milk is unique in a number of nutrients the product, namely vitamin D it contains the insufficient number. Over time, the body begins to experience a growing shortage of «sunshine» vitamin, which faces an increased risk of rickets.

This discovery, which made the researchers from the Hospital of St. Michael in the Canadian city of Toronto (St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto), is particularly relevant for countries of the maple leaf, located in the north of the continent, and for Europe, located on the same latitude.

Because of reduced sun exposure in humans, living in the northern latitudes, decreasing the synthesis of Vitamin D — respectively, reduced and the amount of the milk of lactating mothers living in the countries of Central and Northern Europe.

Scientists from Toronto examined vitamin D blood level samples of 2500 Canadian children aged 1 to 5 years whose mothers continued to breastfeed, and after 12 months. The analysis showed that after the age of 12 months, the risk of «solar» vitamin in the body kids deficit begins to grow markedly.

This increase in risk is 6% per month and a two-year index could reach 16%, and by the 3rd year — 29%.

According to the authors of the study, the children of the first year of life who are breastfed should be given vitamin D daily dose of 400 international units to reduce their future risk of developing rickets.